Explosion Hits Building in Paris, Injuring 24

Smoke billows from rubbles of a building at Place Alphonse-Laveran in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by ABDULMONAM EASSA / AFP)
Smoke billows from rubbles of a building at Place Alphonse-Laveran in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by ABDULMONAM EASSA / AFP)
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Explosion Hits Building in Paris, Injuring 24

Smoke billows from rubbles of a building at Place Alphonse-Laveran in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by ABDULMONAM EASSA / AFP)
Smoke billows from rubbles of a building at Place Alphonse-Laveran in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, on June 21, 2023. (Photo by ABDULMONAM EASSA / AFP)

A strong explosion hit a building in Paris' Left Bank on Wednesday, leaving 24 injured and igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over city monuments and prompted the evacuation of surrounding buildings, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known.

The facade of a building in the 5th arrondissement, or district, collapsed, and emergency services were working to determine if anyone was still inside, a Paris police official said. The explosion happened near the historic Val de Grace military hospital.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said the building where the explosion occurred was a private school, the Paris American Academy, which was founded in 1965 and offers teaching in fashion design, interior design, fine arts and creative writing.

The fire was contained but not yet extinguished. Some 270 firefighters were involved in putting out the flames and 70 emergency vehicles were on the scene.

A Paris police official told The Associated Press that 24 people were injured, including four in critical condition and 20 with less severe injuries. The official says the injuries were sustained mainly when people were blown off their feet by the blast.

Officials from the 5th arrondissement attributed the blast and blaze to a gas leak.

District Mayor Florence Berthout said, “The explosion was extremely violent,” describing pieces of glass still falling from buildings.

The Paris prosecutor said an investigation was opened into aggravated involuntary injury and the probe would examine whether the explosion stemmed from a suspected violation of safety rules.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said investigators would seek to “determine whether or not there was failure to respect a rule or individual imprudence that led to the explosion.”

Nunez, the Paris police chief, said firefighters prevented the fire from igniting two neighboring buildings that were “seriously destabilized” by the explosion and evacuated. The explosion blew out several windows in the area, witnesses and the police chief said.

Smoke was no longer visibly rising from the building by Wednesday evening. Sirens still wailed as ambulances passed through the neighborhood, but residents were starting to move freely again on the street, rue Saint-Jacques, which was cordoned off earlier.



Italian Minister Requests Revoking of Arrest of Detained Iranian Businessman

Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio looks on as he leaves at the end of the annual Confindustria assembly in Rome, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio looks on as he leaves at the end of the annual Confindustria assembly in Rome, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
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Italian Minister Requests Revoking of Arrest of Detained Iranian Businessman

Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio looks on as he leaves at the end of the annual Confindustria assembly in Rome, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio looks on as he leaves at the end of the annual Confindustria assembly in Rome, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

The Italian justice minister has filed a request to revoke the arrest of an Iranian businessman detained in Milan who was wanted by the United States on suspicion of involvement in a drone strike against its forces, the justice ministry said on Sunday.

Mohammad Abedini was arrested in Milan last month on a US warrant for allegedly supplying drone parts that Washington says were used in a 2024 attack that killed three US service members in Jordan.

"Minister (Carlo) Nordio filed a request with the Milan Court of Appeal to revoke the arrest of Iranian citizen Abedininajafabadi Mohammad," a justice ministry statement said, Reuters reported.

Under Italian law, courts must abide by the minister's request.

In his statement, Nordio wrote that legal conditions were not in place to extradite Abedini as that could only be done for offences punishable both in Italy and in the United States.

The statement said violations of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) did not correspond to conduct recognizable as a crime under Italian law. It added there was no evidence corroborating the other charges of supporting a terrorist organization.

Earlier this week, Nordio said the US had not yet submitted a formal request to extradite Abedini.